Khniss

Khniss
خنيس
Commune and town
Khniss is a small city in the Tunisian Sahel region. It is located on the coast, 5 km south of Monastir. Its population is estimated at around 11,000 as of 2014.
Khniss is located in Tunisia
Khniss
Khniss
Coordinates: 35°42′44″N 10°49′00″E / 35.71222°N 10.81667°E / 35.71222; 10.81667
Country Tunisia
GovernorateMonastir Governorate
Population
 (2022[1])
 • Total12,892
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)

Khniss (Arabic: خنيس) is a small city in the Tunisian Sahel region. It is located on the coast, 5 km south of Monastir. Its population is estimated at around 11,000 as of 2014.[1]

Khniss is the hometown of the famous Tunisian linguist Abu Isaak Al Khounaysy who taught linguistics and grammar in the first islamic university and research center in Africa built by the Aghlabites in Kairouan according to the Tunisian historian Hassan Hosni Abdul-Wahab [2]

The exact significance of the word Khniss remains mysterious. Some invoke a possible meaning of Church as a deformation of the Arabic word "kanis", others suggest a link to the word "khounais" meaning depression in Arabic. Others reckon the city and its name are of Berber origins, however the word itself is not known. In Iraq there is an old historical Assyrian village with the name of Khinnis or khenis.[3] Also in Morocco there is a village in a Berber area with the same name. Although this may give more credit to a version arguing for a Berber origin of the word, all these guesses and hints needs further investigations.

The people of Khniss are known as peaceful, hard working, honest, and hospitable. The city is characterized by a disproportionately large number of brilliant teachers, academia, doctors, and engineers, all passionate and proud of their modest origins.

  1. ^ a b "Populations, logements et ménages par unités administratives et milieux »" (PDF). census.ins.tn (in Arabic). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 May 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  2. ^ ABDUL-WAHAB (Hassan Hosni) 'Warakat'- (Papers) Studies of certain aspects of the Arab civilisation in Ifriquia (Tunisia) Tunis, Library al-Manar, 1972-1981
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cite1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).